Astronomy from the Moon May Advance with NASA 2024 Lunar Program and ILOA-NAOC MoU in China

The national program, directed to return USA to the Moon with urgency, may have its FY2020 budget request submitted by April 15 – outlining details for its lunar landing missions – and allowing for the public to note the estimated financial commitment and feasibility of achieving a Human landing at Moon South Pole within 5 years. After landing, “observation” will be a key aspect which NASA has recently collaborated on internationally by providing a laser retroreflector to SpaceIL lander and India Chandrayaan-2. Twelve science and technology demonstration payloads selected by NASA to fly on first commercial lunar landers include ‘Low-frequency Radio Observations from the Near Side Lunar Surface’ instrument. Canada, China, India, Japan, Russia, S Korea, and Europe have dedicated lunar interests and would make strong partners to achieve an accelerated and sustainable Return to the Moon. Working with Zhongguo since its founding, International Lunar Observatory Association of Hawai’i will be signing its next Memorandum of Understanding with National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences on April 15 to co-sponsor a 2-year post-doc research fellow to analyze Chang’e-3 Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT) data since ...